Gene editing to prevent cancers
Scientists at Tel Aviv University have used CRISPR gene editing in the lab to treat some of the most aggressive of cancers. They improved Glioblastoma (brain cancer) survival rates by 30%, but for metastatic (secondary) ovarian cancer, survival was increased by a huge 80%.
A Prophet for predicting cancer treatment
Israel’s Oncohost (reported previously) presented the results of its latest proteomic (proteins) cancer study to the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC). Oncohost’s PROphet host response profiling platform can predict the best therapy to use for specific cancer patients.
Hands-free diagnostics
Two Israeli companies OutSense and Olive Diagnostics have developed innovative devices that remove the embarrassing and potentially unhygienic procedure of collecting urine and fecal samples for disease diagnosis. Their real-time passive diagnostic sensors can be fixed to any toilet.
Partnership to get fast medical advice
Israel’s K Health (reported previously) has partnered with the Mayo Clinic to improve and accelerate deployment of K Health’s virtual therapy models. K Health enables people to receive comprehensive medical insights and immediate treatment in their homes.
Vaccine connections
Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientist of Covid-19 vaccine front-runner Pfizer, studied at Israel’s Weizmann Institute during his doctoral studies. (Pfizer’s CEO is also Jewish.) Meanwhile, Israeli Chief Medical Officer Tal Zaks of top Covid-19 vaccine prospect Moderna, has just received a Ben Gurion Award.
34 lives saved in one month
Israeli NGO Ezer Mizion’s bone marrow database enabled 34 life-saving stem cell transplants in October. The transplants took place across the USA, plus in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and of course Israel. Thousands of new donors join every month.
Better biopsies
Israel’s Limaca Medical has developed a precision instrument which improves endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsies. The needle pinpoints the exact location of a patient’s tumor, to extract good quality biopsies for genetic profiling analysis. The device is currently aimed at pancreatic cancer patients.
Toddler from Gaza is NGO’s 5,555th heart patient
Israeli charity Save A Child’s Heart has just performed its 5,555th life-saving heart operation. The patient was Mahmad - a two-year-old Palestinian Arab boy from Gaza. SACH doctors gave him his first life-saving heart surgery when he was just 5 months old.
New grandfather delivers 3 babies
Daniel, a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, was happy when his daughter called to say she had given birth to a boy. On his way to visit his new grandson, he had to divert to help deliver a baby girl. After seeing his grandson, he then got further calls and brought another two babies into the world.
Center of Excellence for cardiology
Newsweek magazine has placed Sheba Medical Center’s Department of Cardiology prestigiously in the top 50 heart centers in the world for 2020-2021. As reported , Newsweek previously listed Israel’s Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer as the world’s ninth-best hospital.